Once it is safe to do so, will employees return to the office full-time or will companies opt for hybrid scenarios in which some time is still spent working from home? And how will organizations be able to make informed decisions that are safe for their employees and respect their bottom line?
Technological innovations representing new, advanced solutions to a previously unforeseen problem. Advancements that, even once the pandemic is finally dealt with, will continue to change not only their respective industries but also the world. The fields in which such innovation is most prevalent are, not surprisingly, healthcare and the public sector. Here are just a few ways in which this has manifested.
The Justice Department announced that the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) has released approximately $58 million in three grant solicitations that will advance community policing, help combat the dual scourges of opioid and methamphetamine use, and promote the health and safety of our nation’s law enforcement officers.
The U.S Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with support from George Mason University and the Homeland Security Systems Engineering and Development Institute (HSSEDI), recently concluded a two-week Use of Force Simulation Experiment (SIMEX) to examine law enforcement use of force and inform best practices for 21st century policing.
After a lifetime in the protection business, the one constant in Washington that I’ve learned is that it takes tragedy to force change. The January 6 Capitol riot is not an enigma. This was a clear protective intelligence failure. The key finding of Retired Army LTG. Russel Honore’s report reviewing how the pillar of U.S. democracy could have been so easily infiltrated is that the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) must better integrate intelligence into its operations through improved awareness, assessment, sharing, and response capabilities. We can look at effective protective intelligence as a three-part story: Act I is identifying threats; Act II is building those threats into a cohesive profile; Act III is sharing and acting on that information in order to make nothing happen. Applying this framework to January 6 helps us understand how we can and must do better and provides important takeaways for corporations.
The last year has certainly shown businesses all around the world that they must be prepared for the unexpected. How they manage the unexpected is what separates those that sail through their challenges and those that let them significantly harm the institution. Being prepared starts with establishing an effective incident response program.
Recent national events, such as the health crisis and geopolitical tensions, have caused budget reductions across the public safety community. To help state, local, tribal, and territorial government agencies maintain or adjust their budgets in a time of constrained funding, SAFECOM and the National Council of Statewide Interoperability Coordinators (NCSWIC) developed Contingency Considerations When Facing Reductions in Emergency Communications Budgets fact sheet to provide a series of contingency considerations to justify investment in four mission-critical resource categories: personnel, operating costs, equipment, and software.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Indianapolis Motor Speedway, state and local first responders, law enforcement officials, and local businesses held a tabletop exercise to test response plans around hypothetical public safety incidents on the day of the Indianapolis 500, scheduled for Sunday, May 30. Representatives from multiple government agencies and the community discussed their roles, shared best practices, and improved coordination mechanisms to help keep the public safe. The exercise is part of an ongoing public safety efforts surrounding the Indianapolis 500 and was not in response to any specific threat.
As we embark on the long-haul journey to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine to all Americans, addressing the communication challenges of this distribution has never been more vital for safety and coordination, says David Wiseman, Vice President of Secure Communications at BlackBerry. Here, we talk to Wiseman about the need for unified communications as states implement vaccine rollout strategies.
